Data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contains good news and bad news. The obesity rate in the U.S. has leveled off, but 35.7 percent of our adult population is obese. That’s about 78,000,000 Americans.
When I was in college, there were obese people on campus at the University of Georgia where I went to school, but they were the exception. College women, in particular, were concerned about their figures, and you didn’t see many overweight women on campus. That was in the late-1960s and early-1970s. Today, if you walk around any college campus, you’ll find that women who are not overweight stand out. Something dramatic happened.
Using terminology that Malcolm Gladwell introduced in his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, at some point being overweight morphed from a contagion to an epidemic. I don’t know exactly when it occurred, but at the University of Virginia, I knew it had happened when women in my leadership classes routinely wanted to do projects on Oprah Winfrey. There is no question that Oprah influences lots of people — particularly young women, and the way she touches their lives is difficult for most men to understand.
I used to tell my students that women are bellwethers in our society. If their attitudes change, men’s attitudes quickly follow. Oprah is a sort of cult hero because she seems to have it all. She’s rich. You may not know this, but Oprah’s net worth is more than a billion dollars. She runs her own company, and The Oprah Winfrey Show that ran from 1986 to 2011 was just one of the many programs and products it produced. All of the women in my classes knew intimate details about Oprah’s life because they watched The Oprah Winfrey Show every day at 4:00, and Oprah shared that information with her audience.
Scheduling classes for women in our school at 4:00 was difficult since so many of them wanted to relax with Oprah from 4:00 to 5:00. It was like an intimate coffee club and Oprah was the head of the group. Her influence on my women students was enormous. I must have seen two dozen presentations on Oprah Winfrey over the years, and every time I saw one, the women in the presenting group commented on Oprah’s “weight problem,” but they didn’t talk about it as a problem.
Oprah fluctuates between being overweight and obese because her weight goes up and down like a yoyo. She shared her trials and tribulations in weight control with her audience/friends on a regular basis, and since her audience was predominantly women, she invited guests to appear on her show that could touch women’s hearts. Women, particularly young women, are conscious of and sensitive to comments about their weight. Oprah and her guests made them feel good about themselves despite their growing “weight problem.”
It was obvious that the young women in my classes were concerned about being accepted for who they are — excess weight and all. They saw those extra pounds as an important extension of them as human beings, not as a problem to be solved. That’s why I think you can make a compelling argument that The Oprah Winfrey Show was the tipping point for the obesity problem among women, particularly young women, because she made being fat okay for large numbers of them. Since women are bellwethers, when being overweight or obese tipped from a contagion to an epidemic in the female population, it became acceptable for men to put on extra pounds, too. I believe that Oprah made it “Cool to be Fat.”
In the 1990s, the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. C. Everett Koop, made obesity a national issue. When he did, the fireworks began. Dr. Koop presented mountains of data showing that our obesity problem is huge. He even proved that what doctors call “normal weight” is too high. In other words, “normal weight” isn’t normal.
When Dr. Koop launched his campaign, 50 percent of U.S. citizens were overweight and 25 percent of them were obese using “normal weight” tables that we know were wrong. The medical community responded immediately by arguing that their patients who were on “diets” were struggling unsuccessfully to lose enough weight to get down to “normal weight” and that adjusting the weight tables to reflect more accurate information could send many of them into depression.
When the debate ended, they modified the “normal weight” tables slightly, but to this day they still mask the severity of our nation’s weight problem. The overweight and obese population in our country has enough political muscle, or fat, to prevent health experts from doing what they know is right.
If you watch television, read newspapers, or listen to the radio, you will be inundated with stories, commercials, public service announcements, and talk show discussions about our “obesity problem.” What Dr. Koop couldn’t achieve from his government position because of enormous political pressure to maintain the status quo, the powers that be are trying to accomplish by promoting healthy eating habits. They are attempting to move our society toward another tipping point — one that reverses the undesirable and unhealthy pattern. Will they succeed? Only time will tell, but leveling off is far from reversal. Obesity among children is still on the rise, and as they grow older, our overweight and obesity problem could get worse.
A 2010 report on obesity in the United States prepared by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) revealed results that are virtually identical to the CDC results that were released last week:
- “Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year.
- More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent.
- 10 out of the 11 states with the highest rates of obesity were in the South — with Mississippi weighing in with highest rates for all adults (33.8 percent) for the sixth year in a row.
- Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in nine states, 35 percent in 34 states, and 30 percent in 43 states and D.C.
- Rates of adult obesity for Latinos were above 35 percent in two states (North Dakota and Tennessee) and at 30 percent and above in 19 states.
- Ten of the 11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension.
- No state had rates of adult obesity above 35 percent for Whites. Only one state-West Virginia-had an adult obesity rate for Whites greater than 30 percent.
- The number of states where adult obesity rates exceed 30 percent doubled in the past year, from four to eight – Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.
- Northeastern and Western states had the lowest adult obesity rates; Colorado remained the lowest at 19.1 percent.”
According to Dr. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of TFAH, “Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced, and troubling disparities exist based on race, ethnicity, region, and income.” He’s right, and you don’t need to read the report to know that we have a serious problem. All you have to do is go to the mall or the Golden Corral. More than a third of Americans can look in the mirror and see the problem.
In 2008, U.S. healthcare costs associated with obesity were $147 billion, but we face a multitude of other problems that are a direct result of obesity including lower wages, fewer work hours, higher air travel costs, and more gasoline consumption. Cutting to the chase, overweight and obesity costs threaten to bankrupt this nation if we don’t solve the problem.
This SnyderTalk Editorial first appeared as an article in American Thinker on January 21, 2012.
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Jeremiah 40: 9-10
Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather in wine and summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over.”
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Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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Stand! is a gripping novel about the subterfuge surrounding the global warming debate. It lays out the facts concerning climate change through an exciting story that pits a college professor and his research collaborator against corrupt university administrators and radical environmentalists. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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- With US troops hardly gone, Iraq’s government is coming apart
- Gingrich Beats Media in South Carolina, 54 to 14
- Final SC Poll: Gingrich 37, Romney 28, Santorum 16, Paul 14; 77 Percent Have Unfavorable View of Media
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- George Friedman: Iran Seeks Strategic Accommodation with Washington
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Top 5 diggtm articles yesterday:
- We the People
- Cain and Colbert rally in SC draws bigger crowds than real presidential candidates
- Separated at birth? Young Newt Gingrich and The Office’s Dwight Schrute
- MainStream Media
- Report from Guantanamo Hearings: When Due Process is a Matter of Life and Death
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The Jerusalem Post:
- PM to A-G: Investigate J’lem mufti for incitement
- Abbas calls on Israel to release top Hamas political figure
- ‘Rivlin racist for calling J’lem capital of Israel’
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- ‘Iraq risks slipping into authoritarianism’
Haaretz:
- Jerusalem mufti faces harsh Israeli criticism for incitement against Jews
- Erekat calls on Israel to release Palestinian parliament speaker
- Saudi Arabia withdraws monitors from Syria, urges world pressure on Assad
- Human Rights Watch reports ‘serious violations’ in Israel, Palestinian territories
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Israel Hayom:
- Israel to probe Jerusalem mufti’s call to kill Jews
- Egypt’s Islamists win 75 percent of parliament
- The attack on NGOs in Egypt
- Report: ‘Israel will notify US just 12 hours before attack on Iran’
- Racially segregated kindergarten sparks uproar
- Jewish conspiracy theories on the rise in 2011
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- Imminent hacker attack on 40 critical websites
- How to avoid cyberwar
- Kadima candidates spar as primaries shift into high gear
- Owner of Jewish weekly regrets calling for Israeli hit on Obama
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- Iranian military official killed in shooting incident
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Other:
- China Begins to Turn Against Iran
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- Why Nick Clegg Should Focus on the Settlement, Not the Settlements
- The Case for a United Jerusalem
- We cannot bomb Saudi Arabia
- Anywhere but Israel
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What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Business:
- Greek debt talks on knife-edge amid growing IMF pressure on bondholders
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- Q&A: World Economic Forum Davos 2012
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World:
- Analysis: Iran’s softer Gulf words don’t mean nuclear shift
- Yemeni president says he will travel to US for treatment
- Dutch girl, 16, becomes youngest sailor to circumnavigate globe single-handed
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- Doomed liner’s captain trades blame with shipowners
- Croatia says ‘yes’ to joining European Union
- AP Exclusive: Besides the Taliban, US talking to once-shunned Afghan insurgent
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- Libya’s No. 2 Leader Resigns After Benghazi Anti-Government Riot
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United States:
- Newt Gingrich’s Surprise Win in South Carolina Panics Republicans
- After South Carolina: the Road Ahead Gets Tougher for Newt Gingrich
- Rick Perry’s Fate in Texas, After the 2012 Presidential Race
- Text of Giffords Resignation Announcement
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Opinions:
- Derek Hunter: Obama in Fantasy Land
- John Ransom: The Frackin’ Democrats
- Bob Beauprez: Fracking: The Radical Left’s Latest Weapon of Fear
- Larry Kudlow: One on One with Ron Paul
- Doug Giles: A Naughty Newt, A Bitter Ex and Misplaced Rage
- Daniel J. Mitchell: Illinois Leftist Does a Facepalm, Confirming that Higher Taxes Enable Higher Spending While Trying to Make the Opposite Point
- Salena Zito: How the Democratic Party Lost the South
- Mike Shedlock: Greek Debt Talks Stall
- Brett McMahon: Obama: Cautious with Keystone XL, but sprints over the Constitution
- Marita Noon: Typical Obama: Kill Keystone, Create Campaign Commercial about Energy
- Michael Youssef: The European Union and the United States Sign a Suicide Pact
- Mark Calabria: It’s Credit, Not Race, that Drives Mortgage Pricing
- Michael F. Cannon: Romneycare’s, er, Obamacare’s Sweetheart Deal for Massachusetts
- Townhall.com Staff: Small Manufacturers on the Rise
- David Cortman: Is Anyone Else Getting Tired of This Whole Politically Correct Bullying Thing?
- Steve Chapman: Amend the Constitution? Not Happening
- Austin Hill: Our Civil Liberties on a Slippery Slope
- Paul Jacob: The right to recall and, in Wisconsin, the wrong
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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- Gingrich upends race
- The Take: Florida will show which candidate has the momentum
- Which Romney will show up now?
- Obama will use State of the Union speech to focus on economic fairness
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- Documentary explores hidden enemy at nation’s largest Marine base
- ‘Innovation advisers’ aim to improve health care
- Russian Communists at familiar crossroads
- Salafists to take a quarter of Egypt’s lower house
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- Assad’s speech marks beginning of new era
- Guantanamo remembered: A personal perspective
- Has Syria weathered the storm?
- Will the Arab Spring lead to democracy?
- Taiwan: Waiting for China
- A Pakistani Spring?
- Iran’s Speculation on Blocking of the Strait of Hormuz: Legal and Political Backings
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If You Voted for Obama in 2008 to Prove You’re Not a Racist, You Need to Vote for Someone Else in 2012 to Prove You’re Not an Idiot explains why voters in the United States need to elect someone besides Barack Obama to lead them. Whoever is elected President of the United States in 2012 will have to contend with the monumental problems that Obama’s misguided policies have caused both at home and abroad. One thing is certain, though. It should not be Barack Obama. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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http://www.americanthinker.com/
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- The Psychology of Taxation
- Newt’s Third Law
- Psst: Hear the Roar and Pay Attention
- Newt’s Open Marriage With Conservatives
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- Al Gore’s Last Theorem
- Eyeless in Gaza
- It Was ‘A Wonderful Life’
- Romney: Flip-Flopping or Open Minded?
- Barack Obama: The World’s Most Powerful Person
- The Golden Rule of Economics: People Want Stuff
- The Three Problems with Ron Paul
- GOP Candidates’ Middle East Conundrums
- Obama’s Poverty Politics Trick to Redistribute even more tax dollars
- Look at Me Pretending to Care, Mr. President
- Springtime for Islamists in Egypt
- The Romney collapse
- For Romney, Gray Skies in the Sunshine State?
- Department of the Interior’s anti-science political correctness
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/
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- A Candidate to be Drafted Later?
- Newt Gingrich and the Politics of Frustration
- Newt Rolls On
- What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina
- Newt’s Victory Speech
- Newt Looking to ‘Deliver the Knockout Punch in Florida’
- The New Romney Firewall
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- The slog begins
- Ultimate privilege
- The visible hand
- Leader: The spread of a new sort of business in the emerging world will cause increasing problems
- A brief history of state capitalism
- How state enterprise is spreading
- State-owned enterprises are good at infrastructure projects, not so good at innovation
- State capitalism looks outward as well as inward
- For all its successes, state capitalism has fatal flaws
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- Gingrich wins in South Carolina
- Arabs to decide on Syria mission
- Assad as father’s son
- UN awaits Arab monitors’ report
- Croatians vote in EU referendum
- EU enlargement: The next eight
- Colombia rebels hit radar station
- Talks on Greek debt deal hit snag
- Major rally backing Hungary’s PM
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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/
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- News Analysis: Elected Governors To Benefit Investors
- PACE Set to Discuss Election Fraud
- Editor Faces Extremism Charges
- Siluanov Warns Against Excess
- Stand Corrected
- Protesters Affirm the Modernization Theory
- Revolutionary Times
- Russia Rising, America Falling Into Despair
- Despite Promises, Russian Draftees Are Fighting and Dying in the North Caucasus
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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/
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- Senior Qaida leader, 3 people killed in Iraq’s violence
- Freedom and Justice Party seizes 235 seats in polls
- Egypt to hold presidential vote in mid-June
- Armed forces responsible for protesters’ death
- At least 14 killed by “terrorist” blast in Syria’s Idlib
- Peace talks must be Afghan-led: President
- Sudan downplays South Sudan’s intention to build pipeline
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- Get Ready for Higher Gas Prices
- Why Romney Lost: Part I
- Three Different Contests, Three Different Winners?
- Monkeys with Clubs: the Case of la Gingrich
- Why Contemporary Western Elites Don’t Understand the World and Why Their Foreign Policies Fail
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http://www.nationalreview.com/
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Yahweh to Jeremiah—Jeremiah 16: 21
“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.”
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Katie and I believe strongly in healthy living, and we use the products. We’re proud to say that our daughter Melanie owns the store.
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http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
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- The Islamist Winter and Middle East Peace
- Assassination Fantasies Beyond the Pale
- South Carolina Proves Conservatives Are Far From Finished
- Will a Long Race Help the Eventual Winner?
- Why Romney Failed With Evangelicals
- Late Deciders Look to Have Taxed Romney
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”
Exodus 3: 15